Epic Weekend Series- Thursday

We had an insanely busy weekend, and I am going to just start from the beginning and recap day by day.

It kicked off last Thursday night with my women's groups annual Seder Meal.  You guys, this may be my favorite thing we do all year.  We started doing this about 4 years ago.  For the first few years we actually had a Messianic Jew come perform the Seder.  She was so amazing and full of information.  She really opened our eyes more to the Jewish religion, and explained the Seder Meal beautifully.  For the past couple of years it has not worked out for her to come, so we have done it on our own.  There is nothing that can prepare you for Easter better than celebrating the Passover.  I will be honest.  Before we started doing this I had no clue what the Passover was.  I knew what it was, just an abbreviated version.  I had no idea all of the parallels between the old and new testaments.  It really is something everyone should experience. We usually try to have Greek food for the meal portion of the Seder.  We arrived to Michelle's to a beautifully set table.

We learned our lesson after the first year.  We had no idea what we were getting into.  Rita gave us a list of items to bring for the Seder Meal ,and one of them was Kosher Wine.  We had no idea we would be drinking 4 glasses of wine throughout the meal.  We also did't realize that you go through most of the Seder before you are instructed to eat.  I am sure you can imagine what the combination of no food and wine did to us that first year.  Since, we have started having appetizers before the meal begins so we are not ravenous by the time we get to eat.  

Then it was time to get down to business.  Michelle had prepared each of us a Seder plate this year, rather than passing around one plate. 

Each item has significance in retelling the story of the Passover, which was the exodus from Egypt. 

Bitter Herb: Represents the growth and fertility of the Jewish People in Egypt

Haroset: This is a mixture of fruit, wine, and nuts.  It represents the mortar the slaves used to construct buildings for Pharaoh. 

Maror (horseradish) : Represents the bitterness of slavery. 

Shank Bone:  represents the lamb that was sacrificed. 

 Egg: (egg salad for our version) it represents the festival sacrifice that was offered in the temple in Jerusalem and was roasted and eaten as part of the meal on Seder night.  

 Here Michelle is explaining what everything represents, and I am cracking up because she had a chicken wing bone to represent the shank bone. 

Next up is the washing of the hands.  This is the neatest part.  There is something so intimate about having someone wash your hands for you.

All the different sides of the table. 

That is about where the pictures end.  I really try to be present in the experience because it really is powerful.  Along with being serious we also have so much fun.  We were talking about the last supper and how we imagine Jesus and his disciples probably had fun around the table. This is something that is just another reminder of all the suffering and sacrifice that was made for us.  If you have a small group I would highly recommend doing this!